Weekly Online Lesson Online Lesson Archive Grade Level: 7-12 Subject: Sports/Geography

A Third Straight Victory

For the third time in as many years, American cyclist Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France, the world's premiere cycling event. In twenty grueling days of racing, riders literally cycle around France, through steep alpine terrain, ending at last in Paris along the famed Champs-Élysées.

Armstrong's first Tour win three years ago was considered an enormous triumph; he had returned to the sport following an intense battle with cancer. Armstrong is now the first American to claim three successive Tour wins, and only the sixth rider in history to achieve this feat. After his win, Armstrong told the assembled media, "I'm very, very happy. I'm at the highest point in my career."

In a sport marred in the past by widespread use of banned substances, Armstrong has remained drug-free. His success comes by hard work and pure athleticism.

In this week's lesson we revisit sites from a previous Tour de France lesson, and once again we celebrate a world champion. Bravo Lance!

Bicycling Magazine

Start off this week's online lesson by visiting Bicycling Magazine's excellent 2001 Tour de France site. If you don't know much about the race, click Tour 4 Beginners. Here you will find an easy introduction to a sport that can get a little complicated. You will learn how the race is timed, how events are scored, and why some racers get to wear wild colored jerseys. What sort of riders usually lead in the first week? Which riders tend to dominate the mountain stages? Why is it important to have a strong team in cycling?

If you're ready for a little history lesson, click Tour History. Read the introduction, and then use the drop-down menu near the center of the page to choose a year. Start with 1903, the year of the first Tour race, and then jump through each of the other years in the menu. What year was the "golden age of Italian cycling"? In what year did the first (and only other American) win the Tour?

Le Tour de France

Turn now to the official Tour de France web site (English version). This is a great place to read the complete story of this year's race, which you can do by reading the archive of Daily Reports by Tim Maloney. The reports are listed in reverse order (July 28 at the top of the list), so you may want to start at the bottom of the list and work your way up.

To see a photo gallery of the 2001 Tour, click The race on the left, and then click photo gallery above it. The images are ordered in various themes; click the race to see images of the riders in action.

Above the photo gallery link click winner's interview. Here you can listen (with Real Audio) to special Web interviews of stage winners.

One more thing on this site you should definitely check out is The route, a great overview of each of the twenty stages of this demanding race. If you have Flash installed, click in flash to open an interactive map of the Tour. Roll over any segment of the race to learn a little about it. Where did the 2001 Tour begin? Where does the Tour always end?

Lance Armstrong

Now spend some time learning about Lance Armstrong the man, about his life and family, and about his impressive cycling achievements. Visit Lance Armstrong Online, read the introduction, and then click Biography to read a personal profile. When did Armstrong win his first major competition? At what stage in Armstrong's career did he learn he had cancer?

If you are an athlete interested in learning about Armstrong's training program, click Training. First you will read about the conditioning goals behind Armstrong's training program, and then you can read the specifics of the training regiment. Why is it important for athletes to focus on fundamental skills?

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